


A Happy Beginning

by thecompletebookworm



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-09-28 10:15:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17181044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thecompletebookworm/pseuds/thecompletebookworm
Summary: Finale Fix-it Fic:   Belle, Rumplestiltskin and Gideon are swept up by the 'curse' to unite all the realms.





	A Happy Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Does the I don’t understand timelines dance, but by my calculations, Rumbelle and Gideon should still be exploring our world and therefore wouldn’t be united by the curse to unite all the storybook realms (which I still think is wack, but here’s not the forum for that). However in the land of OUAT where continuity and timelines really don’t matter, we’ll say four years was enough time for them to be exploring our world, before going off to try and find a way to separate Rumple from the dagger. Ignoring the fact of course that four is an equally arbitrary number, because according to Grumpy and the Storybrooke crew, it’s weeks after Henry’s graduation, but baby Hope somehow exists despite Emma not being pregnant until Andrew plays Henry (which if Andrew is 34 and Lucy is ten, let’s say Henry is in his early 20s when he meets Ella). 
> 
> In short, I spent way too much time trying to figure out a timeline that isn’t meant to be solved, so on with the show. Also, Gideon’s picture is based off family portraits I would do as a kid.

If Belle had allowed herself to actually stop and think about it,   she would have recognized the strangeness building for weeks.   After all, her husband had given her quite a scare, clutching his chest in the middle of tucking Gideon into bed.  She’d wanted to use one of their magic beans and get back to the Land Without Magic, or more importantly in this case, the Land with Functioning Hospitals, to make sure everything was all right as soon as possible.  But he had given her that smile,  the one that meant they were going to take advantage of the fact Gideon was asleep and they could discuss this another time.  

But they hadn’t.  

And the pain hadn’t come again, so it was easy to just enjoy being with her family.   Giving her husband knowing smiles and trying to teach Gideon how to write when he was much more interested in using the pencil to draw stick figures.  Belle couldn’t say she minded either as she added captions to another family portrait.  Gideon’s paper had four figures scrawled across it (five if you counted the sun, who Gideon clearly did because he made sure to give him bright green sunglasses.)  She and Rumple were only differentiable by the triangles that were supposed to be her dress and high heels.   Gideon had drawn himself taller than his parents, even though at 5, he had a lot more growing to do before that was a reality.  

Belle had been confused at first by the last person, drawn in gold and apparently floating in midair.  It had taken one confused look from Gideon to explain “Bae gets to be there too.”  

She bit her lip trying to keep back the sob, but then she had forced herself to smile and complement Gideon’s masterpiece.  

Rumplestiltskin hadn’t been as successful.  However Gideon wasn’t about to question why Papa was crying when he was being spun around the room.  

There were other things too.  Rumple’s nightmares were less frequent.  He seemed to finally crave sleep instead of merely going through the motions for her sake.  Magic had become less commonplace in their house, used sparingly if at all.   An assortment of things that Belle probably would have never connected, if the house hadn’t started shaking in the middle of the day.  

Belle practically threw her book to the side as she joined her family on the floor.  She scooped Gideon up into her arms and whispered soft reassurances that she’d help him build another castle when everything had calmed down.   Despite her calm tone, she couldn’t keep the panic from her eyes as she used her free hand to clasp Rumple’s tightly.  

“What’s happening?”  

He gave her a bleak smile.  "I think we’re caught in another curse, sweetheart.“ 

Her grip on her family tightened.  Belle didn’t think she could handle missing a single moment of Gideon’s life, let alone another 28 years locked in the hospital asylum or as Lacey.  But just as she was fretting over some sort of game plan to keep her family together,   the shaking stopped.  

Belle exchanged a glance with Rumplestiltskin, her husband, her True Love, who she still remembered every detail about from the way his face lit up when he played with Gideon to how he took his tea.  This curse at least seemed to have no memory altering effects.  

"You two stay here.  I should check where we are.  Especially as the house came with us.  Need to make sure we didn’t land on any witches.”   The fact he was able to still joke reassured her in a way nothing else could.

Still Belle ran a hand through Gideon’s hair, keeping herself calm for his sake, even as her husband approached the unknown.  

“Belle, you should see this.”  

She hoisted Gideon onto her hip and joined Rumple at the open doorway.  Outside was Storybrooke.  Although it wasn’t necessarily the Storybrooke she remembered, she could still see the library’s clocktower from here, still visible despite the assortment of castles that had joined the landscape.  

Rumplestiltskin looked out at this new world and felt a headache building.   “I  have to talk to Regina about this.  Gods know she’ll know what’s going on, if she didn’t cause it herself.”  


End file.
